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MBA programs, Free GMAT Test, Admissions Consultants, and Business School - It's GMAT ClubTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:00:51 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.2Strong Employment Rates Reported for 2013 MBA Gradshttp://gmatclub.com/blog/2013/11/strong-employment-rates-reported-for-2013-mba-grads/
http://gmatclub.com/blog/2013/11/strong-employment-rates-reported-for-2013-mba-grads/#commentsWed, 27 Nov 2013 12:09:06 +0000stacyblackmanhttp://gmatclub.com/blog/?p=21703In a September poll of the job market conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council, 90% of the MBA Class of 2013 indicated they were employed. GMAC reports this figure is six percentage points above the 2009 employment rate, but down a tick from the 92% of graduates employed by September 2012.

There is some fluctuation in rates by geographic region, with 95% of U.S. respondents employed, 92% of Latin American, 87% of Indians, 82% of Europeans, and 85% of graduates in Asia-pacific countries.

Despite continued economic uncertainty, 74% of class of 2013 alumni who landed jobs said they could not have gotten it without their graduate management education.

"In spite of the slow, uneven economic recovery around the world, the job outlook for business degree-holders is holding fairly steady," says Gregg Schoenfeld, director of management education research for GMAC. "Regardless of employment status, the vast majority of alumni from the class of 2013 believe their education developed their skills, expanded their network, and prepared them for the job market."

Key findings:

The technology sector is drawing 15% of the class of 2013 graduates worldwide, up from 12% in 2009.

Ninety-two percent of full-time two-year MBA alumni were employed at the time of the follow-up alumni poll -- the highest level reported since the class of 2009.

MBAs and other business master's degree-holders continue to find opportunities in a variety of industries, with a total of 57% employed in the products and services, finance and accounting, and consulting sectors.

Five percent of class of 2013 alumni reported themselves as entrepreneurs/self-employed. A majority (78%) of self-employed alumni expect to hire a median of three employees in the next 12 months.

Almost all class of 2013 alumni (96%) rated the value of their degree as outstanding, excellent or good, similar to previous years.

***If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

]]>http://gmatclub.com/blog/2013/11/strong-employment-rates-reported-for-2013-mba-grads/feed/1Hiring Up 4% for Class of 2013 B-School Gradshttp://gmatclub.com/blog/2013/06/hiring-up-4-for-class-of-2013-b-school-grads/
http://gmatclub.com/blog/2013/06/hiring-up-4-for-class-of-2013-b-school-grads/#commentsSat, 01 Jun 2013 12:46:02 +0000stacyblackmanhttp://gmatclub.com/blog/?p=18744The job market continues to improve for graduate business school degree holders, as more employers plan to hire MBAs and specialized business master’s talent than did so last year, according to the 2013 Corporate Recruiters Survey. The survey was issued earlier this week by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and its survey partners, the European Foundation for Management Development and the MBA Career Services Council.

A companion student exit survey, the 2013 Global Management Education Graduate Survey, shows that similar to last year, six in 10 business school graduates already had job offers in February or March. The annual employer and graduate surveys, looking at the current employment outlook from both sides of the market, were released Tuesday by GMAC.

The 2013 Corporate Recruiters Survey of 935 employers around the world finds 75 percent plan to hire MBAs, up from 71 percent that hired MBAs in 2012. The proportion of employers planning to hire other types of business school graduates is up from last year for master in management, master of accounting, master of finance, as well as other specialized business master’s.

Both surveys show a healthier job market for business school graduates from five years ago, when just 50 percent of corporate recruiters planned to hire MBAs and 43 percent of class of 2009 graduates surveyed had early job offers.

“These results positively answer many of the primary questions MBA candidates ask about the opportunities an MBA degree may present to them, by not only confirming the value of the MBA degree in today’s dynamic job market, but also clearly illustrating the industries in which it might currently best be leveraged,” says Mark Peterson, president of the MBA Career Services Council.

***If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

]]>http://gmatclub.com/blog/2013/06/hiring-up-4-for-class-of-2013-b-school-grads/feed/0GMAC Reports Historic Highs in GMAT Testing Volumehttp://gmatclub.com/blog/2012/10/gmac-reports-historic-highs-in-gmat-testing-volume/
http://gmatclub.com/blog/2012/10/gmac-reports-historic-highs-in-gmat-testing-volume/#commentsWed, 03 Oct 2012 03:02:04 +0000stacyblackmanhttp://gmatclub.com/blog/?p=14642The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), owner of the GMAT exam, has announced that last year was a record year for the exam. Volume for the 2012 testing year (July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012) was up 11 percent from the prior year, and eight percent higher than the previous record of 265,613 in 2009.

A total of 286,529 GMAT exams were taken, with 831,337 score reports sent to 5,281 graduate business and management programs around the world — all historic highs, says GMAC.

The record volume partially reflects increased interest in the exam brought on by the addition of the Integrated Reasoning section on June 5, 2012. Historically, test volume rises just before changes are made to a standardized exam as test takers opt for a familiar format at the transition.

GMAT testing outside of the United States continues to grow quickly. Tests taken by non-US citizens rose 19 percent in 2012 and represented 59 percent of global GMAT volume.

Chinese test takers, the second-largest citizenship group after the US, represented 20 percent of global testing. In 2012, the number of exams taken by Chinese citizens increased 45 percent to 58,196 exams. Meanwhile, Indian citizens, the third-largest citizenship group, took 30,213 GMAT exams, a figure that increased 19 percent in 2012.

The percentage of exams taken by women hit 42.9 percent in 2012—a record for the third straight year.

“Today’s global students — who may be a citizen of one country, study in second and choose to work in a third — recognize the significance and the superiority of the GMAT exam in gaining admission to the best management programs around the world,” says David Wilson, GMAC president and CEO.

“Business and management skills are needed more than ever in an ever increasing variety of organizations. Business schools have responded by offering a deeper portfolio of programs to meet these diverse needs,” Wilson adds.

***

If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

This post originally appeared on Stacy's "Strictly Business" MBA blog on U.S.News.com

Class of 2012 grads are breathing a collective sigh of relief—and likely doing some version of the happy dance—as they embark on their post-MBA careers in a job market that looks several shades brighter than when they entered business school just two years ago.

According to new data from the Graduate Management Admission Council's (GMAC) 2012 Global Management Education Graduate Survey and the 2012 Corporate Recruiters Survey, 62 percent of newly minted MBAs have job offers right out of the gate. The good news is even sweeter for graduates of full time, two-year MBA programs, where 64 percent have job offers in hand—nearly matching the all-time record set in 2001, when 66 percent of students had employment offers, GMAC reports.

Companies are feeling optimistic, too, with 79 percent saying they plan to hire recent MBA graduates this year, compared with 72 percent in 2011 and a paltry 55 percent in 2010.

The largest gains came from a surprising source: small businesses. Companies with fewer than 1,000 employees accounted for the largest proportional increase in demand for graduate management hires among the 1,096 global companies surveyed.

"These entrepreneurial firms see real value in the skills that management graduates bring to the workforce," says Dave Wilson, president and chief executive officer of GMAC.

Landing the job: Recruiters want graduates with more work experience, either before they enroll in business school or from internships during their program. GMAC reports nearly three quarters of employers seeking to hire MBAs prefer candidates with more than three years of work experience.

While the search for employment typically requires a multi-pronged approach, some strategies yielded far greater success for this year's graduates. GMAC found that 39 percent of students used internships to land a job, with a 71 percent success rate, making it the most effective job search method that students cited.

Also, MBAs who received a job offer through an internship were offered a greater salary increase over pre-degree earnings (84 percent) compared with grads with new job offers (70 percent). These findings indicate that employers recognize the value added by the internship experience.

Students also reported respectable degrees of success in their job search using traditional, school-based programs, such as career services (53 percent), job boards (43 percent), job fairs (34 percent), or networking with classmates and alumni (32 percent). Interestingly, the recent exponential increase in social media usage and online job search sites proved the least-effective method for 2012 graduates, yielding a success rate of only 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Participating in an internship or work project lead to a job offer nearly five times as often as online or social media methods, GMAC says.

Show me the money: Employers in the United States expect to pay MBA graduates substantially more in 2012 than new hires with only a bachelor's degree. This translates into annual earnings for new MBAs that are $40,000 higher, on average, than the salaries bachelor's degree-holders can expect, according to the Corporate Recruiters Survey.

Among students who had at least one job offer at the time the Global Management Education Graduate Survey was conducted in February and March 2012, full time, two-year MBAs saw an 81 percent gain between pre-MBA and post-MBA salaries—up eight points from last year. In 2012, the median expected starting salary for recent MBA graduates working in the United States is $90,000, though many industries report significantly higher starting salaries. Nearly half of all companies offer their starting MBA hires a signing bonus, and the median signing bonus for those candidates is $15,000, a figure unchanged from 2011, GMAC says.

This year's graduates also seem to have an upbeat outlook on student debt, a subject that has garnered much attention over the past year. For the first time, GMAC asked students graduating in 2012 about the level of debt they incurred while in b-school. Although more than half (59 percent) of graduating students report that they expect to have some debt after graduation (a median of $45,000), GMAC reports it has no bearing on the students' views regarding the quality, reputation, and value of their graduate management program.

Those who entered business school in 2010 took a considerable gamble, betting that, come graduation, the economy would have rebounded and their newly honed management and leadership skills would make them even more attractive to prospective employers. Judging by these responses, collected from 6,292 graduate management students at 136 business schools worldwide, the wager seems to have paid off nicely.